In a business that awards departing, how do we adequately celebrate last men standing? In a world where it pays more to get out, what is left behind for those who stay home? 

Jaden Robinson and Joshua Gray didn’t sign up to be heroes when they came to Oregon State in 2018. OSU was coming off its worst season in four decades, widely considered one-of-if-not-the-worst teams in all of Power Five, and at a crucial crossroads when the two future Beaver Football mainstays signed on as members of the first recruiting class of a then-first-year-head-coach who shall remain nameless. 

Oregon State and new head coach Trent Bray have collected plenty of praise from Beaver Nation and the national college football media since Bray was named the head coach on November 28th. Bray and his staff lost a number of current students and commits to the transfer portal commensurate with any head coach transition, but it didn’t take long for them to start winning big time battles of their own in the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail. 

The incoming pool of talent headed towards Corvallis is deep and exciting, but in a day and age when recruiting your own roster is as important as ever, the returns of Gray and Robinson should be hailed as the two biggest wins for OSU this offseason. 

On the field they both bring a wealth of talent and experience at two premium positions for a team that sorely needs it. Gray will be joined by all-world running back Damien Martinez and tight end Jermaine Terry as the only returning starters on offense. Robinson is the lone returning starter for Trent Bray’s defense. 

Gray brings with him a handsome streak of 44-consecutive starts at the left tackle position, which started in 2020 and stretched across four seasons until the 2023 regular season finale. He’s a four-time All-Pac 12 selection and future NFL offensive lineman with a nose for the goalline, scoring a touchdown on his lone carry in orange and black. 

Robinson had to bide his time behind a number of talented OSU cornerbacks who are now playing on Sundays. When he got his chance, he showed there would be no dropoff for a school that takes pride in its DBs. He’s the exact type of athletic, feisty, and all-around corner Beaver fans are known to fall in love with, and he lived up to the billing in 2023, often drawing the defense’s toughest coverage assignment and matching NFL-bound Kitan Oladapo for the team lead in passes defensed. 

More important than all of that, though, is what this means for Beaver Nation off of the field. Jaden and Joshua have not only invested a ton of time in Corvallis, but have spread a ton of love during their time in Corvallis. Both players have parents who are active on OSU social media and have become fan favorites to find for a quick hello on game days (go follow @JRobsMom, @MamaKels44, and @MrGGray right now!). Following a year in which Oregon State saw no love from the college football powers that be, the emotional investment Beaver Nation has received from Gray and Robinson should never be overlooked.

It was impossible not to think of the 2024 season to come and imagine more explosive plays from Martinez running behind powerful No. 67 charging down the field in front of him after Gray tweeted three powerful words “One more time…” on top of a photo that read “I’M BACK.” It was too easy to picture a boisterous ‘buckled up’ celebration by No. 4 after batting away another ill-advised pass thrown in his direction when Robinson tweeted a single orange heart emoji above a photo of him literally showing love and the same triumphant script.  

In a time where Beaver fans need more than two hands to count the number of things that have been taken away, getting another year of these two young men in orange and black is a gift. Both could have reasonably seen bigger paydays in the transfer portal, and both have legitimate NFL Draft stock, but both will now leave a longer and greater legacy behind when their respective Corvallis chapters come to a close.

In a day and age when so many in power have forgotten why we all fell in love with this game in the first place, Beaver Nation is lucky to have these two members of Beaver immortality prove there are at least a few who haven’t forgotten it yet, a few within whom the heart of college football still beats on strong.

This post was originally posted to the author’s SubStack, ‘Cream (Cash Rules Everything Around MyFavoriteCollegeFootballTeam: a College Football SubStack’ subscribe for free today!